Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-09-23


"birds of cor'lscrcw flight" have become
dry. airy corn-iic'ds or well-trodden pas
ture lands where the only winged things
seen. save insects are the crows and black
birds. Perhaps the next 80 years will see
the destruction of all the snipa within the
great interior of America. This destruction
will not be due to the sportsman gun, nor
TO pot-hunters. nor to any device of man
for capturing game: but simply to the
march of agriculture. Fifteen years ago the
snpe area was treble what it now Is IN In
diana. Illinois and Ohio. This area when
drained is the finest land imaginable, as
rich as the Nile delta. In every way the
Snipe is a very interesting bird His history
dates back some millions of years behind
that of man. He flew over vast wastes OF
marsh on the shores of our Tertiary seas,
long before there was a man to till the soil
and before there was any soil to till. If one
dared to mention evolution in a sketch Ike
this, something might be said of the bill
presented to our consideration by the snipe.
No bird has a more singular organ than TINS
bill and its function is Il very delicate one.
Probing down three inches some in the black
swamp muck. how can the snipe be sure OF
the difference between Il worm and root,
or between grub and the bulb of an aquatic
plant Examine his bill and you Will see
that its mandblcs. unlike those of common
birds. are soft, flexible and filled with mem"
branes and nerves to the very ends. so that
the sense of touch is doubtless very fine.
At first. long ages ago the snipe's bill was.
probably very short and the bird found its
prey in shallow water or ON the surface of
wet shorcands: but as the changes came
that dried up seas and left vast marshes. the
1,pn a
at length it had to be taken out of the mud
and ooze. this change led to the evolution
of the snipe's bill. All the older forms of
birds | mean gcoogicaIly speaking, appear
to have pc ,uliar specifications of the or
gans of smell and of hearing; but | must
stop here and begin my shooting.
When the Snipc begin to drop in autumn,
the inland marshes sometimes are greatly
contracted by drouth and i'll such case
the shooting is exceptionally fine. II food
is plenty the birds get fat in few days and
become lazy, heavy flyers, though the slow
est snipe puts the quickest marksman to his
best A retriever taught to follow at the
sportsman's heels and to look up the dead
birds, is the best dog for snipe. | use the
same gun that | use in quail shooting. IT,
gauge breech- loader of about six and half
pounds weight. The charge is three drains
of powder and a scant ounce of No. shot,
In som. If the marshes along the gulf
coast where the grass has been burned off,
! have had rare sport even in mid winter,
the snpe lying close and flushing almost at
my feet.
Much has been written about the habits
of the snipe, but there is still widespread
ignorance. even among sportsmen. ON the
object | once had an opportunity to Wit
ness the spring arrival of the birds at a
little marsh in indiana. 1t was a splendid
nighl in April the moon and stars flooding
a fine atmosphere with strong light, and |
was sitting in the doorway of a tent think
ing over day of absolute failure. Not a
bird had found Suddenly tie well known
harsh cry. 'scrape. scrapc. scrapc, fell out
of the blue sky, and looking up saw wiSp
of snipe circling ubuot high in the air.
Pretty soon they fell in body into a grassy
area not hundred yards from where ] sat.
Another and another flock followed until
perhaps Il dozen of them had pitched down
into various arts of the field. Next day
the sport was excellent.
Snpe leav, place as suddenly as they
come to it. One day the marsh is alive
with them and the next not a feather is left
Their northward migration in the spring
is more slow and struggling than is their
southwark flight in autumn.
They have light bodies and strong
wings with a muscular development singu-
arly adapted to making sudden and cccen-
trio movements in the air; consequently
there is no bird more difficult to shoot, es-
pecially in Il strong wind. The sportsman
who hits his snpe may be sure that he has
mastered the most trying problem of marks
manship. Think of setting yourself the task
of hitting in the air. at say 3j yards, an
object which appears about as large as Il
withcred oak leaf and whose flight is much
like that of the oak leaf when tossed on a
gusty March or September wind!
The snipe's nest is "A rather picturesque,
sEcltchy thing. set in the grass or ON some
old messy log near its feeding ground. The
eggs are oliNc-colored with brown and black
ish markings in the form of specls and
scratches closely set upon the larger end and
growing less numerous toward the point,
The young are bright alert. downy little
creatures. so notified that they are almost
ndistinguisable in the brown grass of the
marshes | have found nests set in between
the stems Of willow bushes above the round,
but usually the bird holows n place in the
midst of a grass -tuft and does as little work
rs possible in the way Of building.
Like the woOdcOcll, the snipc feeds ut
night but it is not true that it never feeds
in the daytime.
have seen it boring the earth ut midday.
Once. while sitting in a canoe on the Kan
kakee river, | saw three or four snipe feed
ing in a wet spot on the bank They were
very lively in their work, fighting for the
best places and iluttering nerVousy all the
time, Their food is earthworms and the
grubs and larvae found in soft damp loan
or bog mud.
EETo eat a suipe you must first kill him,
and this act requires more art than you will
discover in the average salon picture. 1t
is easier t. write fair dialect poem on
readable realistic novel; than to kill a
respectable bag OF snipe, and for consolation
| may add that, once hagged, a dozen brace
OF snipe gre worth more in the market than
a ream of realism and II quire of dialect
dogGercl.
Come with me and wr viii see how the
thing is done. Nonicr is the marsh. a
wide fat area covered with tuft. Of tall
grass and dotted here and there with little